HALLAHAN, MARGARET. - A religious of the Dominican Third Order, b. in London of Irish parents on 23 Jan. 1802; d. 11 May 1868. Orphaned of her father and mother at the ages of 9 and 10 respectively, she immediately entered a long period of domestic service, first in England (1813–26), then in Bruges, Belgium (1826–42). Having returned to England (1842), she conceived the idea of becoming a Dominican and founding a congregation of sisters, finding support for this in the Benedictine Fr Ullathorne, later bishop of Birmingham.
In 1844, at Coventry, began what was to be called the English Congregation of St Catherine of Siena. H. also devoted herself to various other educational and charitable institutions, leaving at her death numerous foundations: 5 convents, 4 churches, schools, homes, and orphanages, thus earning the appellation of “mother of all.” She is also regarded as one of the chief instruments of Providence in the restoration of Catholicism and of its principal devotions in England during the past century. The processes for her beatification have been under way for several years.